mardi 20 octobre 2009

Autre espion pour Israël arrêté aux États-Unis

The arrest of a Maryland scientist in the latest case involving FBI stings aimed at individuals with connections to Israel has revived questions about whether the Justice Department is targeting Jews and the Jewish state.

The fact that the indictment of Stewart David Nozette, 52, a prominent space scientist and former Pentagon contractor, specifically noted that Israeli agencies were not involved did not stop bloggers and anti-Israel Web sites from trumpeting another “Israeli spy case” and citing it as proof that individuals with connections to Israel cannot be trusted with sensitive defense information.

“What I find troubling and perplexing is that our government seems only interested in investigating people who are connected to Israel,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. (continued...)

Comment from an internet blog:The Justice Department should answer, "Yes. We are targeting Israeli spies. What of it?"

What did the NASA spy tell the Israelis?Stewart Nozette had a top secret clearance. From 2000 to 2006, he did research and development for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Naval Research Laboratory, and NASA. From 1998 to 2008 Nozette was a consultant "for an aerospace company that was wholly owned by the government of the state of Israel." The Israelis 'consulted' with Nozette monthly, "getting answers to questions," and he received regular payments of $225,000.Read more...

--AFP:Israelis Caught Again Trying to Steal Secret Weapons Technology

The story is becoming all too familiar: greedy scientist wants to cash in on secrets he holds. Said scientist approaches all-too-willing Israel and gets the green light to pass on America’s most sensitive military data. AFP exposes the latest in a long line of “Jonathan Pollards.”

After Stewart David Nozette, 52—who held a special security clearance equivalent to the Defense Department’s top-secret and “critical nuclear weapon design information” and was concerned the U.S. government would charge him criminally—expressed a willingness to go to Israel and “tell them everything,” he received a call from a mysterious Mossad agent.

At a clandestine meeting Nozette allegedly told the agent, “Well, I should tell you my first need is that they should figure out how to pay me . . . they don’t expect me to do this for free.”

Nozette was a technical adviser for a consultant company, wholly owned by the Israeli government, from 1998 to 2008. During this period (2000-2006) Nozette set up the Alliance for Competitive Technology, which had several agreements to develop advanced technology for the U.S. government.

A few months later, in January 2009, Nozette traveled to a foreign country, the FBI believes, to deliver two computer thumb drives capable of holding huge amounts of top secrets.
Nozette had held top security clearances in the Energy Department, NASA (1989–1990), the National Space Council in the president’s office, research and development at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he designed highly advanced technology (1990 to 1999).

He developed the Clementine bi-static radar experiment that is credited with discovering water on the south pole of the moon. He had access to U.S. satellite information. He had a trove of top secrets and was eager to sell them all—if the price was right, officials said, and Nozette bargained to sell it piecemeal for payments in cash of less than $10,000 for each transaction.

Nozette allegedly offered to reveal classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems.

After picking up envelopes full of money with a request, Nozette would promptly deliver a package stuffed with top-secret information on U.S. satellites, early warning systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information, and major elements of defense strategy, authorities said.

Nozette had the potential to be even more harmful to America’s security than the traitor Jonathan Pollard, the convicted Israeli spy.

But this time the Mossad agent was a “loyal” American working for the FBI. Nozette was arrested by the FBI and charged with espionage. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

No-Fault Espionage‘If you spy for Israel the consequences should be the same as if you spy for China or Cuba – arrest, conviction, and hard jail time. No exceptions, no excuses’ By Philip Giraldi
It is interesting to note what happens to espionage cases in the United States. If you spy for China, or Cuba, or Iran you will be exposed, excoriated in the media, locked up and denied bail, convicted, and sentenced to many years in a federal prison. Spying is serious business and the harsh punishment most often fits the crime because when spies steal highly sensitive defense and policy information they are not only betraying their fellow citizens, they are also making all Americans less secure. And the spying is only slightly less serious when American technology is being targeted. When spies acting for a foreign country steal sensitive technology with commercial applications that is developed at great cost either by the US government or private companies, their betrayal is also taking away the livelihoods of thousands of American workers who rely on the competitive edge of US technology to keep their jobs.
Spies are traitors in every sense of the word, unless, of course, if one is spying for Israel. Israel aggressively spies on the US both to influence policy and steal high technology, but getting caught only very rarely has any consequences. Leading neoconservatives like Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and Stephen Bryen have all been detected in flagrante providing classified information to Israel but the investigations were halted and their security clearances were godfathered so they could continue to hold high office. FBI counter intelligence officer John Cole has reported on the frustration of his colleagues over the many cases of Israeli espionage that are dropped under orders from the Justice Department. He provides a “conservative estimate” of 125 worthwhile investigations into Israeli espionage in the US involving both American citizens and Israelis stopped due to political pressure from above. Israeli citizens and diplomats who are caught in the act spying are routinely freed without criminal charges and allowed to return home. (more…)